Highlands Hammock State Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Highlands Hammock State Park
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
Highlands Hammock State Park
Location: Highlands County, Florida, USA
Nearest city: Sebring, Florida
Coordinates: 27°28′16″N, 81°32′31″W
Area: 9,000 acres
Established: 1931
Governing body: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Highlands Hammock State Park is a 9,000 acre park four miles west of Sebring in Highlands County, Florida, off U.S. 27. The park opened in 1931, four years before the Florida state park system was created.

Contents

[edit] Ecology

[edit] Flora

Elevated boardwalks meander through an old-growth bald cypress swamp with cabbage palmettos, ferns, bromeliads, orchids and other epiphytes. Some trees are believed to be over a thousand years old, and one is possibly the largest oak in Florida, with a girth of over 36 feet.

[edit] Fauna

White-tailed deer, alligators, gopher tortoises, frogs, otters, golden silk spiders, pileated woodpeckers, red-shouldered hawks, barred owls and Florida scrub-jays are common in the park. Black bears, bald eagles, white ibis, bobcats and the rare Florida panther are seen on occasion.

[edit] History

Local citizens, concerned about plans to turn the hammock into farmland, acquired the property and promoted it as a candidate for national park status, an early example of grass-roots public support for environmental preservation. One of the prime movers behind the effort was Mrs. Margaret Roebling, daughter-in-law of Washington Augustus Roebling.

The park was taken over by the state when the state park system was created in 1935, as one of the four original state parks. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), established during the Great Depression, built a camp at Highlands Hammock as a headquarters, and developed additional park facilities and the beginnings of a botanical garden.

[edit] Recreational activities

The park includes a scenic three-mile loop drive that gives access to the park´s nine trails, and can be used for inline skating. An eleven-mile trail can be traversed by bicyclists, horseback riders or wildlife viewers. Birding may also be done, since the park is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail. Ranger-guided tours are scheduled frequently.

Another point of interest is the state’s Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, which contains interactive exhibits about the period of the park's construction, and the history of the CCC in Florida and the United States.

There is a campground with full hookups, and an areas for full, primitive and youth camping. A picnicking area is available with an adjacent playground, as well as a restaurant, called "The Hammock Inn".

[edit] Hours

Florida state parks are open between 8 A.M. and sundown every day of the year (including holidays).

[edit] Gallery

[edit] References and external links


Protected Areas of Florida
Department of Environmental Protection
State Parks

Amelia Island | Anastasia | Avalon | Bahia Honda | Bald Point | Big Lagoon | Big Talbot Island | Bill Baggs Cape Florida | Bulow Creek | Caladesi Island | Camp Helen | Cayo Costa | Collier-Seminole | Curry Hammock | Delnor-Wiggins Pass | Devil's Millhopper | Don Pedro Island | Eden Gardens | Egmont Key | Falling Waters | Faver-Dykes | Florida Caverns | Fort Clinch | Fort Cooper | Fort George Island | Fort Pierce Inlet | Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou | Gasparilla Island | George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier | Highlands Hammock | Hontoon Island | Hugh Taylor Birch | John D. MacArthur Beach | John Pennekamp Coral Reef | John U. Lloyd Beach | Jonathan Dickinson | Little Talbot Island | Long Key | Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson | Mike Roess Gold Head Branch | Navarre Beach | North Peninsula | O'Leno | Oscar Scherer | Ravine Gardens | River Bluff Picnic Site | Sebastian Inlet | Skyway Fishing Pier | St. George Island | St. Joseph Peninsula | Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center | Stump Pass Beach | Tomoka | Torreya | Windley Key Fossil Reef |

Botanical

Alfred B. Maclay Gardens | Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock | Lignumvitae Key | Washington Oaks State Gardens |

Lakes, Rivers and Springs

Deer Lake | Lake Griffin | Lake June in Winter Scrub | Lake Kissimmee | Lake Louisa | Lake Manatee | Lake Talquin | Alafia River | Blackwater River | Econfina River | Guana River | Hillsborough River | Little Manatee River | Myakka River | Ochlockonee River | Silver River | Suwannee River | Blue Spring | De Leon Springs | Edward Ball Wakulla Springs | Fanning Springs | Homosassa Springs Wildlife | Ichetucknee Springs | Lafayette Blue Springs | Madison Blue Springs | Manatee Springs | Peacock Springs | Rainbow Springs | Troy Springs | Wekiwa Springs | Werner-Boyce Salt Springs |

Recreation areas

Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek | Dead Lakes | Dunns Creek | Gamble Rogers Memorial | Grayton Beach | Henderson Beach | Honeymoon Island | Oleta River | Perdido Key | Ponce de Leon Springs | St. Andrews | Three Rivers |

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites

Cedar Key Museum | Constitution Convention Museum | Forest Capital Museum | John Gorrie State Museum | Ybor City Museum
The Barnacle | Bulow Plantation Ruins | Dade Battlefield | DeSoto Site | Dudley Farm | Fort Foster | Fort Mose | Fort Zachary Taylor | Gamble Plantation | Indian Key | Koreshan | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead | Natural Bridge Battlefield | Olustee Battlefield | Orman House | Paynes Creek | San Marcos de Apalache | Yellow Bluff Fort | Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins
Crystal River | Lake Jackson Mounds | Letchworth Mounds | Madira Bickel Mound | Mound Key | San Pedro Underwater |

Preserves and reserves

Anclote Key | Cedar Key Scrub | Charlotte Harbor | Crystal River | Estero Bay | Fakahatchee Strand | Kissimmee Prairie | Lower Wekiva River | Paynes Prairie | Pumpkin Hill Creek | River Rise | Rock Springs Run | San Felasco Hammock | Savannas | Seabranch | St. Lucie Inlet | St. Sebastian River | Tarkiln Bayou | Topsail Hill | Tosohatchee | Waccasassa Bay | Yellow River Marsh |

Trails

Gainesville-Hawthorne | General James A. Van Fleet | Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail | Withlacoochee |